What was the publics initial reaction to Liszt transcendental etudes

[jaquet]

This question is exactly what the title says, I’ve searched online for an answer and there is none, i feel the answer is probably in Alan walkers biography on Liszt but quite frankly its very expensive and I can’t afford it and i have a lot of other stuff to read first. Im just very curious about this for some reason. Any response would be greatly appreciated.

[liszt-and-the-galops]

Which version of the TEs?

It's likely that nobody thought anything of the S. 136 Etude en Douze Exercises.
The S. 137 Douze Grande Etudes and S. 139 Transcendental Etudes were much more advanced, both musically and technically, so I would guess that people thought more highly of them.

Also, Liszt is known to have played the Douze Grande Etudes in public, but he had retired from performance before he wrote the Transcendentals.

So, the answer varies a lot, depending on which version you're referring to.

[jaquet]

I knew someone but say this but wasnt sure weather or not to include it in the post. Definitly to the S137

[dizzyfingers]

This question is exactly what the title says, I’ve searched online for an answer and there is none, i feel the answer is probably in Alan walkers biography on Liszt but quite frankly its very expensive and I can’t afford it and i have a lot of other stuff to read first. Im just very curious about this for some reason. Any response would be greatly appreciated.

Here's some from an Chatbot:

It's noted that only a portion of the programs for Liszt's world tour survive, and many of these are incomplete or lack specific details.  Liszt often performed his own compositions, including operatic fantasies and paraphrases, as well as works by other composers like Beethoven, Chopin, and Weber.
Alan Walker's book "Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years" lists several specific programs and individual pieces Liszt performed, including:  Vienna, 1838:
- Weber's Concertstück Fantasy on themes from Bellini's I Puritani
- Vision from Transcendental Études"

Michael Saffle compiled a complete list of Liszt's German concerts (with programs when available) in his book "Liszt in Germany, 1840-1845".

[thorn]

From Leslie Howard's notes:
"Schumann gave them the most enthusiastic notice, but lamented that only their composer would ever be able to play them, such was their technical requirement. Nonetheless, his wife Clara immediately learned the ninth of them, and by degrees they enjoyed at the very least an infamy, if not quite a popularity, amongst performers, and became the stuff of legend to audiences."
(Source: https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA66973)

It's difficult to know more than the opinions of celebrity figures (here the Schumanns) and generic statements about audiences. Any contemporary reviews would comment on the same thing if you could find them in some archive. Pre-internet history leaves very little trace of regular citizens. 

[dizzyfingers]

I suspect the larger public didn't notice much difference between Liszt's paraphrases on opera themes and his more visionary compositions (the TE).

[liszt-and-the-galops]

I suspect the larger public didn't notice much difference between Liszt's paraphrases on opera themes and his more visionary compositions (the TE).

A few things.
1. TEs.
2. The Transcendentals were written after Liszt retired from public performance, while most/all of the opera transcriptions were written before that point.
3. "Visionary-ness" is... an odd metric for comparing those works.
4. What does this add to the conversation?

[cuberdrift]

A few things.
1. TEs.
2. The Transcendentals were written after Liszt retired from public performance, while most/all of the opera transcriptions were written before that point.
3. "Visionary-ness" is... an odd metric for comparing those works.
4. What does this add to the conversation?

The Grand Etudes which the TE's were based off of were written at the peak of his career.

What does it add to the conversation? The asker wants to know the public reaction to them. "The public" at the time cared mostly about opera. Works like the Transcendental etudes were written for musicians to appreciate, not common folk, as far as I know.

Indeed, it is likely that at least some of the Grand Etudes were written before his duel with Thalberg, and it's worth noting that Liszt didn't play any of them in it, but instead, the Niobe fantasy.